A Proper Goodbye
by Anjirika
Summary: Set in series 5 sometime after 'Cold Blood' before 'The Pandorica Opens' where the Doctor decides to investigate a crack a little further and finds that it is a doorway into a world that he thought would be closed from him forever. Please read and review!


The Doctor had found another crack in time and space. Amy was off somewhere doing whatever Amy did best which was not listening to his instructions and getting into trouble. The Doctor knew that Amy needed to be found but the curious part of him couldn't resist reaching into the crack once more. The last time he had done so, he had pulled out a piece of the TARDIS and it had gotten Rory Williams killed and erased from all of time. This time he was determined to pull out another piece of the TARDIS in order to figure out just what was going on.

Braving the bright light of the crack he knelt down and reached in. Once again the pain was excruciating but unlike before, he thought that he could hear voices coming from the other side. "What is it?" a female voice asked. "What have you found?"

"It's a piece of something," a male voice replied. "Oh no."

"It's a piece of the TARDIS," the woman replied. "But not our TARDIS."

"No," the man agreed. "Not ours at all."

"What do we do?" the woman asked, emotion heavy in her voice.

"We do what we do best," the man replied and the Doctor pulled away from the crack as though he had been burned. He knew that some of the cracks showed silence, and some showed other worlds, like the one that Prisoner Zero had come through but the Doctor had not thought that he would ever come across a crack in time and space that led there.

Acting without really thinking the Doctor stood up and held out his sonic screwdriver. He had caused the crack in Amy's bedroom wall to open up, and he was determined to do the same thing once again. The crack split open and the light dissipated to show a whole other world on the other side with two people standing there looking as shocked as he felt, both of whom the Doctor thought that he'd never see again.

Before him was his counterpart, or rather the meta-crisis of his previous incarnation holding an old version of his sonic screwdriver at the crack. Clearly they had both opened it at the same time and that had clearly given the crack some added support. Behind the man, the human version of himself was the woman that he had loved but could never admit out loud. Rose Tyler was a woman that he had missed so fiercely and while a little bit of Amy reminded him of her, she still held a special place in his heart.

"Is it you?" Rose asked as she stepped closer to the crack, looking older than when he had last seen her on Bad Wolf Bay. "Doctor?"

The Doctor nodded and took a couple steps towards the crack. "It's me."

Rose looked amazed. "You look so young,"

"Oi!" the meta-crisis exclaimed. "Not fair."

Rose turned to her Doctor and smiled. "Sorry luv,"

The meta-crisis smiled back. "Sokay,"

"Doctor," Rose began as she turned back towards the crack. "What's going on? Your TARDIS—"

"Is going to explode," the Doctor finished. "I know. I've already pulled a piece from the crack."

"But how is that going to happen?" she asked worriedly.

The Doctor shrugged. "I've got no idea."

"We've been hearing whispers of a Pandorica," the meta-crisis stated. "But it can't exist here."

"It can't exist anywhere," the Doctor answered, addressing his human self. "It's a myth. A fairytale."

"The stuff of legends?" Rose asked, using the phrasing that he himself had used ages ago to describe them and their partnership as they travelled amongst the stars.

The Doctor nodded sadly.

"You must be careful," Rose warned and the Doctor could see tears prickling in her eyes.

"You know me,"

"Not this knew you," she countered.

"Well I am careful,"

Rose shook her head. "That universe needs you Doctor," she explained. "Don't go getting yourself killed or nothing,"

"Don't worry," the Doctor assured with a gentle smile. "Amy'll watch my back."

Rose's eyes widened. "You have another companion then?"

"Yeah."

"What happened to Donna?"

"Her brain couldn't handle it," the meta-crisis answered ."Am I right?"

The Doctor nodded. "Yeah."

"Oh I'm sorry," Rose apologized.

"It's alright," the Doctor assured. "She's blissfully unaware and happy..." he paused and took another step closer so that his shoes were touching the wall that the crack was in. "Are you?"

"Happy?" Rose asked startled by the question.

"Well yeah," the Doctor continued. "I mean..."

"I am," Rose admitted, and the Doctor could see that she felt guilty about it. "I mean I wasn't for a long time, but after the Daleks,"

"It's alright," he assured. "You don't have to explain anything to me."

"But I do," Rose insisted, stiffening slightly as the meta-crisis put a hand on her shoulder.

"No," the Doctor re-stated. "You don't."

The Doctor took a step back and held up his sonic screwdriver prepared to shut the crack when Rose panicked. "No!" she cried out as she jumped through from Pete's universe to his.

"Rose," he stated angrily. "What are you doing."

"I need to know something," she whispered, glancing over her shoulder briefly to the meta-crisis before turning back to the Doctor. "I'll go back," Rose continued. "But I need to know before I do."

"Know what?"

Rose gulped. "I need to know that he doesn't just love me because he's human now," she explained. "I need to know..." she pleaded. "I know that it's hard for you. You don't do well with emotion and feeling and—"

"I do," the Doctor whispered.

"What?" Rose asked, unsure as to what she heard.

"I do," he repeated. "I— I love you Rose. I should have told you on the impossible planet, I should have said it quicker after the battle of Canary Warf. I should have said it after the Battle with the Daleks but I didn't and I'm sorry."

Rose smiled through her tears. "You're saying it now though, and that counts for something yeah?"

"Yeah," the Doctor agreed as he gave Rose a simple kiss on the forehead. "I've missed you."

Rose leaned up against the Doctor and nodded. "Me too."

The Doctor pulled back and watched his doppelganger look at him. Without needing words, the Doctor knew what his human half was thinking. The meta-crisis was him essentially and in love with Rose. The Doctor knew how he reacted when he thought that he had lost Rose and the Doctor knew that the meta-crisis would react just as badly, if not worse.

"You have to go now," the Doctor whispered as he stepped back from Rose. "Sorry."

She shook her head. "Don't be sorry. I got to say a proper goodbye this time."

"Goodbye Rose,"

"Goodbye Doctor," she whispered as she stepped backwards through the crack and into the awaiting arms of her human Doctor. "And please, be careful."

The Doctor smiled and held out his sonic screwdriver once more. "I promise."

END

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><p>DISCLAIMER &amp; AUTHOR'S NOTE: These characters do not belong to me. I'm merely borrowing them for your enjoyment and mine and I'm getting no financial reward from this.<p>

This little story popped into my head the other day.I wondered what would happen if Eleven came in contact with Rose, and not just Rose, but Rose and 10.5. This little drabble is the result and I've got to say that I quite enjoyed writing it and I hope that you enjoyed reading it. (If you did, or even if you didn't leave a review please)

I wanted to explore a proper goodbye between the Doctor and Rose. For two wonderfully in love characters they were kind of shafted in the writing. I know that that adds to their love story but I feel like the Doctor would have had a lot less issues in the specials and in series five if he just said how he feels. This is my attempt to rectify that oversight.

Till next time!


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